Horoscoptic Love
by volleydork
Summary: Hinako buys Shinomiya a subscription to a horoscope service for his birthday. While it initially makes him roll his eyes — after all, he's always thought of astrology as being bullshit — his interest is piqued when he realises that his horoscope is describing him to a T. His interest is piqued even further when a prophecy is made about his future, one which might just hold true...
1. les étoiles

Chapter One: les étoiles

**Loading… loading… loading… 100%!**

**Your destiny is written in the stars, Kojirou! Through astrology, that destiny can be read. Insert payment method here or use a gift card code *wink wink***

"Seriously, how did Hinako think this was a good idea? This is bullshit."

Shinomiya let out a sigh as he meticulously typed in the code on his gift card, all the while wondering why Hinako couldn't just buy him a normal birthday gift. He'd specified that he wanted a new cast iron pan for his kitchen, but Hinako had decided to take a different route entirely by giving him a gift card for a site called 'Midorima Horoscopes'. Hinako had a habit of giving him everything _except_ the things he wanted, annoyingly enough.

_"I'm sure you'll like it! Besides, those horoscope thingies give you relationship advice_," she'd said. _"You need it, honestly. I'm doing you a favour, Shinomiya-senpai! Would you rather have a cast iron pan that gets shitty after a few years or a relationship that lasts forever?"_

"'I'm doing you a favour' my ass," Shinomiya muttered, a glower forming on his face as he waited for the screen to load up with his first horoscope. He wasn't even sure why he was entertaining this bullshit, if he was completely honest. He had much, much better things to do. Like cooking. And cooking. And… you guessed it, cooking.

**Welcome to Midorima Horoscopes, Kojirou! Click here for a glimpse at what the stars have determined your traits as!**

"Maybe I should just click on the X button," Shinomiya muttered. "Fuck's sake. Fucking horoscopes. They say the same thing for _everyone_."

Despite his complaining, he was still complacent in following the instructions on his laptop screen. The loading stars appeared on his screen, swirling and bouncing around the screen as twinkly sounds began to burst out from his speakers. He hated horoscopes, sure, but he couldn't deny that it was some pretty high-quality bullshitting. The gift card was a 3D image of space and showed the stars from all sorts of different angles, and it even came with a single quote: **Your destiny is in your hands**.

**Hello, Kojirou! After some consulting with the stars, we have determined your traits. Feel free to tell us here if we got anything wrong!**

**As a Scorpio born on November 16th, you are a jovial companion but can also be possessive and stubborn, even with those you care for most. You don't like to be wrong and will often do whatever it is in your powers to prove yourself.**

**It seems that you will have numerous romantic interests in your life.**

"Actually… they're kind of right," Shinomiya mumbled after a pause, eyes glued to the screen as he scanned over the words again, again and then one more time for good measure. He was secretly quite a jovial person, though he didn't really tend to show that side of him to most of the people in his life. It was only his staff, his mother and his close friends who _really_ knew how excited Shinomiya could get about cooking and life and the future. To everyone else, he probably just seemed cold and infallible. He preferred it that way.

"So," Shinomiya continued, reading over the last sentence. "Romantic interests? Well… I _have_ had quite a few, but… hmm… do they have anything else to tell me?"

Shinomiya clicked around a little bit, hoping that he'd have an actual horoscope for today. It didn't take long before he noticed the big starry button which had the words 'Daily Horoscope' emblazoned across it in shiny silver letters. He clicked on it and stared at the screen as he waited for it to load, big shiny stars shooting across his screen. At this point, he'd forgotten about his past irritation. He'd become somewhat interested — though he was still making sure to remind himself that it was just a coincidence and that horoscopes were still bullshit.

**…possessive and stubborn…**

"Shit, I'm being stubborn," Shinomiya muttered, his thoughts drifting back to the analysis of his traits. "Damn. I just proved them right."

On that note, his daily horoscope loaded up on his screen.

**Good afternoon, Kojirou! Today is the day that everything will change. Why? You will meet the love of your life. You may have already met them without realising it…**

"Ew. How cliché," Shinomiya said, rolling his eyes as he closed the lid of his laptop screen. "I knew horoscopes were bullshit. _Love of my life_. My restaurant's closed and I'm not going anywhere today. How am I meant to meet anyone?"

After a few moments of thought, Shinomiya got up and went out of his office so that he could lock his front door. Just for good measure. It wasn't like he believed in that bullshit.

He also called the apartment's front desk and ordered them not to let anyone up to his room, regardless of who they said they were. Again, it wasn't because of the horoscope: it was just because he wanted to be on his own. He often spent his days off work on his own anyway — there was no reason why today had to be different.

Finally, he muted all of his social media apps. Just so he could focus on his cooking — not because of the horoscope.

"Whew," Shinomiya said, sitting back down in his chair once he'd finished. Now, all he had to do was wait. He was going to prove that stupid horoscope wrong and then rub it in Hinako's face so that she'd stop toting around that astrology bullshit. All he had to do was go the remainder of the day without coming face-to-face with anyone. He was in his apartment, he didn't have work and he didn't have any reason to go out anywhere. And besides—

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Shinomiya's thoughts came to a halt as he stared out through his open office door, wondering just who could be at the door for him at this time. He was pretty sure he'd _just_ called the front desk and ordered them not to let anyone up. So, why was there someone knocking at his door? What if it was some super-ugly person and Shinomiya ended up falling in love with them?

"Ugh, fuck off," Shinomiya grumbled, swatting the air around his temples as if trying to fight off the thoughts in his head. "That horoscope was _bullshit_. Besides, even if it's true, I doubt there's anyone at that door who can make me fall in love at first sight."

Having reaffirmed that belief in his mind, he rose to his feet and moved out of his office, eyes trained on the wooden door. One knock, two knocks, three knocks then more silence. It wouldn't be long before the knocking started up again.

"I'm coming," Shinomiya called out.

He approached the door, eyes trained on the golden handle as the horoscope flashed in his mind once again. It was bullshit, he knew that, but… the prospect of meeting his 'true love' was a little scary. He really wanted to believe that it was bullshit, but that website hadn't gotten anything wrong so far. It had all been correct, painfully so. What if Shinomiya's true love was really standing at the door and he just hadn't realised it yet? Shinomiya wasn't ready for love. Yeah, maybe he was in his thirties, but he was dedicated to his _kitchen_. He didn't need love when he had his kitchen, damnit. He didn't—

_Knock!_

"I said I'm coming!"

As if to troll him, the person behind the door continued to knock a second time, then a third time. Shinomiya let out a loud groan of irritation as he reached up for the chain, loosening it with a grating 'chink' and then lowering his hand onto the handle. He twisted it, only to find that it was refusing to budge. It took him a minute to realise that he needed to get his key and actually put it in the keyhole so that he could open the door. It took him even longer to realise that he'd left the key in his office after rifling in his trouser pockets, but he eventually turned on his heel and retreated back into his office, lifting up various sheets and his laptop bag until he realised that his key was snug in his breast pocket. _Of course_.

He walked back into the main room, hand diving into his breast pocket to retrieve the key, but froze when he realised that his front door was open. His eyes drifted away from the front door and to the person who was sitting on his couch, one leg leisurely folded over the other as golden eyes flickered from Shinomiya to the painting behind him.

"Painting of yourself, huh?"

There was a chuckle, though it was soon followed by more words.

"I see you're still just as much of a narcissist as you were before, shishou."

Shinomiya had been shocked, but that one quip had been enough to snap him out of it. Irritation quickly flooded his mind as he reached for the nearest item — an orange — and launched it in the direction of Yukihira, who had a lazy smirk on his face. The orange instead bounced off the wall and to the floor, having missed Yukihira by at least a mile. Yup, he definitely needed to work on his throw.

"Mmm. Nice try, but you pulled the throw a bit there," Yukihira observed. "I give it a four out of ten. Better luck next time!"

"What the _fuck_ are you doing here, Yukihira?"

Yukihira grinned. "Well, I thought I'd reintroduce myself. I'm the new owner of this apartment complex."

Shinomiya had been nodding, but when the meaning of Yukihira's words had actually registered in his mind, his blood froze in his veins. He looked at Yukihira's face, searching for any sign of 'I'm just kidding' on his face, but there was none. Despite the smile on Yukihira's face, Shinomiya could tell he was being serious. Completely and utterly serious.

"Wait, _what_?"

"I had a Shokugeki with the owner's daughter. She put this entire building on the line, so I put my diner on the line. So, obviously, I had to win. No way am I losing my diner to a bunch of land sharks," Yukihira remarked with an eye-roll. "Anyway, after I won and got the records to the people living here, I saw your name, so I figured I'd pop in and say hi. It's been a while, shishou."

"For the last time, stop calling me shishou. I'm not a shishou."

"Shishou."

A cheeky smirk appeared on Yukihira's lips, pure curiosity dancing in his eyes as his lips parted to ask a question, his tone even more cheeky than it had been before.

"What you gonna do about that? Challenge me?"

"Seriously, you're crazy," Shinomiya said, completely disregarding Yukihira's question as he raked a hand through his hair. "Aren't you a chef? How the hell are you meant to be a building owner as well?"

"I can multitask," Yukihira replied, leaning back on Shinomiya's couch. It was clear that he didn't intend to leave for a while, annoyingly enough. The horoscope was still in the back of Shinomiya's mind, but now that Yukihira had arrived, Shinomiya couldn't deny that he was interested to see how Yukihira was faring. He hadn't seen Yukihira ever since his Stagiaire, but… the horoscope. The _horoscope_.

"Idiot," Shinomiya grumbled, reluctantly moving to sit alongside Yukihira. "You're still just as impulsive as ever."

"Oh, trust me. I'm not being as impulsive as I'd like."

Shinomiya raised an eyebrow. "What's that meant to mean?"

"Nothing," Yukihira replied, though his tone was indication enough that he'd clearly meant something by that statement. _Idiot_, Shinomiya thought. He was still just as frustrating as ever. But, as frustrating as Yukihira was, he'd always kept Shinomiya on his toes. His cooking had always been interesting. His creativity knew no limits. Not to mention, his pure skill as a chef… it was absolutely amazing. Perhaps Yukihira's impulses were more of an advantage than anything else.

"So," Shinomiya prompted, "do you have something to tell me or can I kick you out now?"

A curious expression appeared on Yukihira's face as he rose both eyebrows ever-so-slightly, Shinomiya's gaze darting to Yukihira's golden eyes as if by instinct. Shinomiya had always thought about how unique the shade of Yukihira's eyes were. It had been a fleeting thought, but the thought had passed through his mind nevertheless.

"Why so eager to get rid of me? You seem antsy," Yukihira observed. "Well, you always seem like you've got a stick up your ass but now, it's like you've got the whole fucking tree up your ass."

Shinomiya's hand reached out to flick Yukihira's forehead before he could stop himself. The ensuing look on Yukihira's face told him one thing: he was being overfamiliar. He hadn't consciously intended to do that — it had just been an automatic reaction to Yukihira irritating him.

He quickly withdrew his hand and opened his mouth to apologise, but before the words could start spilling out, a loud chuckle emitted from Yukihira's lips. Shinomiya felt his own lips drifting shut as his eyes fell upon Yukihira's laughing face, eyes lit up with amusement as small creases began to form in the corner of his eyes. His face was full of life, red hair blazing all over the place as his shoulders shook with laughter, unable to handle the force of Yukihira's laughter. Shinomiya couldn't help but imagine that if pure, woven gold had a sound… it would've been the sound of Yukihira's laughter.

But, that was a weird thought. A really weird thought.

"Still just as violent as before, shishou," Yukihira murmured once he'd recovered from his laughter. "Out of curiosity, why didn't you come to Tootsuki again after the whole training camp thing? Some assistance during the Régiment de Cuisine would've been nice."

"I _do_ have a life, Yukihira," Shinomiya reminded him with a raised eyebrow. "Well, if '24/7 cooking' counts as a life. Still, if you're sitting next to me right now, I guess that means you made it to the top."

"Yeah," Yukihira replied, a warm smile appearing on his lips. "I did. I'm at the top with you. Like, _literally_. Of course you'd live on the top floor of this complex. The view's amazing."

"What view? The curtains are closed. You can't even see anything," Shinomiya pointed out, his gaze moving towards the closed curtains. When the windows were open, the sky would be there in all its glory, sometimes bursting with clouds. Other times, there would be nothing to behold but pure, blue sky. Right now, all there was to behold was the sight of silky grey curtains. Still pretty, but not as pretty as the sight of the world outside.

"Was I looking at the curtains?"

It took a minute for Yukihira's meaning to click in Shinomiya's head. Shinomiya turned towards Yukihira and was about to reply with a "well, I assume so" but then he realised that Yukihira's gaze was intent on his. Really, _really_ intent.

**…you will meet the love of your life…you may have already met them without realising it…**

"Get out," Shinomiya blurted.

Yukihira frowned. "Huh?"

"Now. Leave," Shinomiya said, rising to his feet as he took one step away from Yukihira, then two. He might've taken a third for good measure, but he was aware that there was a side table right behind him. He didn't exactly want to start knocking his own furniture over for the sake of making a point, did he?

"You might own the place," Shinomiya continued, "but you can't waltz in whenever you please. I've got stuff to do. Go."

There was a flicker of hurt on Yukihira's face, though it was there for a fraction of a second before a somewhat leisurely smile appeared on his lips as he rose to his feet.

"Alright," Yukihira said, his voice giving away nothing. "Sorry to disturb. I'll see you around, shishou…"

Shinomiya watched after Yukihira as he retreated from his room, trying to ignore the frantic thumping of his heart. He wasn't nervous or anything — he was just conscious of time. Yeah. It was almost three o'clock in the afternoon; he had prototype dishes to cook. He'd spent enough time worrying over that stupid horoscope. It was time for him to get on with his day.


	2. que será, será

Chapter Two: que será, será

**So, how was day 1 of ur horoscopes?**

**-Hinako [Received 14:22]**

* * *

**Shit.**

**They don't work. It told me I would meet the 'love of my life' but the only person I saw was Yukihira. If it had said I would meet one of the most fucking annoying chefs alive then fine, but love of my life? Get real.**

**-Shinomiya [Sent 15:14]**

* * *

**Lol**

**-Hinako [Received 15:15]**

* * *

**Lol?**

**-Shinomiya [Sent 15:15]**

* * *

**Please don't tell me u don't know what lol means lmao**

**-Hinako [Received 15:16]**

* * *

**I'm not that stupid, Hinako. /sigh/**

**I'm just saying. Those horoscopes don't fucking work.**

**-Shinomiya [Sent 15:17]**

* * *

**Lol**

**-Hinako [Received 15:19]**

* * *

**How the fuck did it take you two minutes to type 'lol'?**

**-Shinomiya [Sent 15:20]**

* * *

**Lol**

**-Hinako [Received 15:25]**

* * *

**HINAKO**

**-Shinomiya [Sent 15:26]**

* * *

**What? Lol**

**-Hinako [Received 15:36]**

"She really loves getting on my nerves," Shinomiya grumbled, rolling his eyes as he clicked off the text messages. He set his phone to one side before glancing at his laptop, which was displaying a bunch of emails. He had an email from Abel, who was asking to go for drinks.

"Can't," Shinomiya said, typing out the words as he said them. "I've got paperwork to finish tonight for Monday. Try asking Lucie, I'm sure she'll want to go."

He pressed send before looking at his other emails, deleting most of them until he got to Midorima Horoscopes. He was tempted to delete that email too, but there was a niggling feeling in his brain from him to check his daily horoscope. At first, he was able to ignore it as he responded to all of his important emails and updated the SHINO's Tokyo website. Three hours later, however, when it was the only unread email in his inbox emblazoned with bright bold text, he couldn't help but click on it.

"It'll only take a minute," he rationalised.

Again, the stars shot across his screen as it loaded up his personalised horoscope for the day, the loading screen just as pretty and spacey as it usually was. It was so pleasing to look at that Shinomiya actually felt at peace while waiting for the horoscope to load. Hopefully it would be something simpler like '**you will receive good fortunes today**' rather than something as significant as true love.

**Good evening, Kojirou! The stars are unclear and the clouds are in sight. One reading says this could be the best day of your life. Another states this could be the worst day of your life. Proceed with caution, and you might just get lucky tonight. Either that, or you'll end up in a fight.**

"Well… that's depressing," Shinomiya said, frowning as he read over the last sentence. "For the other person, anyway. There's no way I'd lose in a fight."

As if on cue, a thunderclap emerged out of nowhere, bringing Shinomiya's thoughts to a halt. It had been raining since the morning, though Shinomiya hadn't expected the weather to be this bad. Sure, they were in November, but _still_. Was it too much to ask for one birth month without rain?

"Clearly," Shinomiya muttered, standing up and walking over to his kitchen so that he could grab himself a bottle of red wine. He was about to start responding to some more emails, but he needed a bit of conviction from that trusty red bottle of his. After all, some of the emails he received made him want to rip his hair out — or rather, the hair of the people who had sent him those emails in the first place.

As he opened the fridge door, however, there was another thunderclap outside. This time, it resulted in the lights of his fridge going off.

When Shinomiya looked away from his fridge and around him, he realised that all the other lights had gone off too.

"Shit," he muttered, shutting his fridge door and rushing towards his electric oven where a pot of _coq au vin_ had been simmering on low heat. It was a dish that Shinomiya had been experimenting with lately, and one of the key things Shinomiya had learnt was that constant heat was a must. Not high heat, but constant heat.

This electricity cut would fuck up his dish for the day.

"Well," he murmured, letting out a deep sigh before wandering out of his kitchen, "I guess this means I have to talk to Yukihira."

Shinomiya fished his mobile phone out of his pocket and dialled the number for the front desk, listening to the first few trills before the perky receptionist picked up with a bright and cheerful, "hello! How can I help you today?"

"Hello, Shinomiya calling. By any chance, is Yukihira Souma in today?"

"Yes, he's right here," was the peppy response. "Yukihira-kun, someone's asking for you. Name's Shinomiya."

Shinomiya didn't hear Yukihira's response, but it wasn't long before the sound of the phone exchanging hands came, a sound characterised by rustling and various sounds before a cheerful "Afternoon, shishou!" fired down the phone and into Shinomiya's ears.

"I'm surprised you're so happy considering there's just been a power cut," Shinomiya dryly remarked. "I was cooking _coq au vin_ and now it's ruined, so thanks."

"You realise I don't control the weather, right? Also, a greeting would be nice."

"Perhaps. But, there _is_ such a thing as reserve electricity, isn't there? I can't even access the internet now," Shinomiya complained, throwing a hand out in frustration. "I was meant to spend today responding to emails, and now it's all been ruined, so excuse me if I don't exactly feel like greeting you."

Yukihira sighed. "Just as difficult as usual, huh?"

Shinomiya had been about to rant at him for that _completely untrue_ observation, but before Shinomiya could get started, Yukihira's voice cut through the silence once more. It was just as calm and cheerful as it had been when he'd started speaking, though a new emotion had entered the atmosphere. Timidity, maybe?

"What are you more mad about? Your emails, or your food? I mean, I'd assume that you'd be able to afford unlimited data to hotspot your laptop, but I guess I assumed wrong," Yukihira said. While his tone wasn't exactly teasing, Shinomiya could sense that there was meant to be some sort of joke in there.

"I'll come and hotspot you if that makes you happy," Yukihira continued. "It'll take about three hours until someone can come and fix the electricity problem. It's a Sunday, so it's a miracle we can get someone to come out in the first place. And, as for the food, don't fret. I'm a chef too, remember?"

That particular sentence was said with a teasing aspect to it.

"Yes, Yukihira," Shinomiya sarcastically replied. "I remember."

"So, this is a formal invite to your apartment?"

"Don't take it as an invitation to talk to me. I'm a busy man," Shinomiya brusquely informed him. "I'm simply inviting you for my own benefit. Nothing less, nothing more."

"Mm-kay. Sure. See you in five," Yukihira cheerily replied.

On that note, Shinomiya hung up, though he couldn't help but stare at the phone screen for a good few minutes as he reflected on his rapidly beating heart. He didn't quite understand why his heartbeat had changed like that. He wasn't nervous, was he? After all, to put it in the bluntest terms possible, Yukihira was nothing compared to him. Shinomiya had carved himself a spot on the world's top chefs. Yukihira was still yet to achieve such a feat. Shinomiya shouldn't have felt nervous about Yukihira, not really.

And yet, his heart just wouldn't stop… racing. What was it trying to run away from?

**…you will meet the love of your life…**

"For fuck's sake, he's not the love of my life," Shinomiya growled, his frustration flaring at the antics of his brain. Why did his brain keep flickering back to that damn horoscope? It was bullshit. Bullshit. _Bullshit_. He was pacing back and forth now, trying to sort out his thoughts, but everything was scattered. It didn't help that there was no longer any stereo music to distract him. There was nothing but silence and occasional thunderclaps, and Shinomiya couldn't exactly decide which of the two options he preferred.

"Hey," Yukihira trilled. "I come bearing the answers to your problems!"

Yukihira strolled in through his front door, portable charcoal cooker balanced in his hands. He proceeded to make his way into Shinomiya's kitchen, oblivious to the look on Shinomiya's face. Shinomiya was preparing a dish which would sell for no less than a hundred euros in his restaurant, and Yukihira was bringing him a _charcoal cooker_? Charcoal?

"You coming, shishou?"

"For the last time, _stop calling me that_."

Shinomiya reluctantly trailed after Yukihira, though he was still stunned at the fact that Yukihira had brought him a charcoal cooker of all things.

"Hey, this smells great," Yukihira marvelled, his attention now on the pot of _coq au vin_ as he levelled a silver spoon above its contents. A deliciously meaty aroma was emanating from the pot, and even though the heat was no longer on, the flavour of the aroma only seemed to develop as the seconds went past.

"Idiot, I didn't invite you to start tasting my food. It's not even ready," Shinomiya reprimanded, steely eyes fixated on the spoon which was now entering Yukihira's mouth. All he got in response was a happy grin from Yukihira, who seemed to be enjoying the taste of the food.

"This is great," Yukihira said, quickly readying his spoon to secure himself a second round of flavour. "Seriously, you've gotta give me some of this when you're done—"

"_Yukihira_."

When Shinomiya took a threatening step forwards, Yukihira raised both hands and stepped away from the pot, though he still had a playful smile on his face.

"Fine, fine. I know, you're a busy man. But, don't forget. I'm a busy man too," Yukihira remarked, bending down to activate the charcoal cooker. He briefly straightened his back to grab the pot of _coq au vin_ off the hob so that he could lower it onto the cooker, though it wasn't long before he walked out of the kitchen, satisfied with his work. The whole time, Shinomiya had remained silent, his irritation momentarily eclipsed by his curiosity.

_I'm a busy man too_.

"What's that meant to mean?"

When Shinomiya didn't hear a chipper voice saying something irritating in response, he rose an eyebrow to himself. "Yukihira? You there?"

Again, no response.

With a sigh, Shinomiya wandered into the living room, surprised when he didn't see Yukihira sprawled out on his couch. In fact, Yukihira wasn't there at all — his phone was. On the table, there was a portable hotspot device.

"_Mon Dieu_, are you playing hide-and-seek or something?"

When there was no response, Shinomiya sighed and raked a hand through his hair as he approached his couch, lowering himself down before casting a curious glance over at Yukihira's phone. He looked around the room again, then at the phone, then around the room. Finally, his hand darted out for the phone, the warm metal pressing against his palm. It buzzed with a message, causing the lock screen to flicker on. The lock screen itself was a colourful image of Yukihira, some blonde guy and a blue-headed dunce doing peace signs at the camera. The message itself was from a guy called Takumi: **srsly that Shinomiya guy is a dickhead… if I were you I'd kick him out of the apartment**

"What are you glaring at?"

Shinomiya's head jerked up when he saw Yukihira approaching from the direction of the bathroom, one eyebrow cocked in curiosity.

"Your stupid lock screen," Shinomiya nonchalantly replied, tossing the phone to one side.

"Oh," Yukihira said, a slow smirk spreading across his face. "What, you jealous now?"

"…fuck off."

"You didn't say no," Yukihira teased, that smirk still playing on his lips. "Seriously, I can't seem to satisfy you. I bring you a charcoal cooker, I offer to give you free Wi-Fi but nope, you're still just as apathetic as ever. You really are something, huh? Well, you're in luck. I'm off for the evening, so I'll be back for my stuff tomorrow. You can connect to my hotspot. Password's 'squid21'. See ya—"

"Wait," Shinomiya interrupted.

Yukihira let out a hum. "What for?"

"…the _coq au vin_'s almost done," he explained. "I'm not saying I want you here, but I'd feel bad if I just used your Wi-Fi without giving you anything in return. Besides, I could use some feedback on my dish. You're no expert, but it's better than nothing."

"You're really not the best at selling an enticing evening, are you?"

A laugh bubbled out from Yukihira's lips as he moved to stand directly in front of Shinomiya, hand reaching out to grab the phone which was a short distance away from his thigh. Shinomiya gulped at the sudden proximity, though he didn't say anything in response to Yukihira. He couldn't understand why he was so _affected_ all of a sudden, nor could he quite understand what was happening to him. He couldn't help but feel like he was being a bit too mean to Yukihira, but at the same time… these feelings made him _want_ to act like that.

Did he really have feelings for _Yukihira_? The biggest dunce to walk the planet?

…except, he wasn't really a dunce. Hell, he was the owner of the building that Shinomiya was living in. He was doing great things in the cooking world. He was on the brink of something brilliant, and Shinomiya was here degrading him? Was that really the right thing to do?

"Well," Shinomiya began after a pause, "I'm not selling you anything. It's just an offer. Do what you want. But… there's enough for two."

"So, is that 'shishou speak' for 'I want to catch up but I'm too much of a pussy to say it outright'?"

Shinomiya's hand reached out to grab Yukihira by the collar, the words "I'm _not_ a pussy" ominously creeping out from his lips.

"Oh, grabbing me? Kinky," Yukihira teased.

Shinomiya's irritation was quickly replaced with embarrassment, his face going bright red as he released Yukihira, shuffling back on the couch to put as much distance between them as humanly possible. Yukihira burst out into laughter at his reaction while Shinomiya glowered to himself, regretting his decision to invite Yukihira to eat with him.

"In case it wasn't clear," Yukihira said after a pause, "I was kidding."

"I know," Shinomiya snapped.

"Then why are you blushing?"

This time, Shinomiya responded by throwing a cushion at Yukihira's face.

"Just _shut up_ already, Yukihira."

* * *

Yukihira didn't shut up at all that evening.

And as it turned out, Shinomiya didn't even mind all that much. Occasional quips aside, Yukihira had actually turned out to be pretty good company. Shinomiya's _coq au vin_ had turned out better than expected, though he still had a few things to tweak in terms of ingredient ratios.

"Seriously," Yukihira said in-between his final mouthfuls of the dish, "did you spill the whole wine bottle in there or something?"

"No, you're just a lightweight," Shinomiya fired back. He wasn't about to admit he'd added too much wine, not to Yukihira. He'd been tweaking the recipe to see what worked over the past few days, so now he had one more thing to add to this certain recipe: less is more.

"Well, I'm sorry," Yukihira replied, his tone clearly indicating the opposite. "We can't all be alcoholics, can we?"

"I'm not an alcoholic!"

"This dish says otherwise."

The overhead lights chose that moment to flicker back on, rendering the candles redundant. Shinomiya could hear all the other things around the room powering on, the whirr of the fridge and the growl of the nearby freezer. He was hoping that his ingredients hadn't been too badly affected by the outage — he'd moved a few items over to the freezer to prevent any spoilages — and most importantly… he was kind of hoping that Yukihira wasn't about to leave. Today had been strangely fun, though he wouldn't dare admit it out loud.

"There's your electricity," Yukihira proclaimed, leaping out of his chair and spreading his arms out as if he were the cause for it. The action was followed by laughter, a happy smile on his face as he looked up at the ceiling. Before, the room had only been lighted by candles and natural light poking out through the windows. Now that bright white light was falling upon Yukihira, Shinomiya was paying attention to him.

His eyes lingered on Yukihira's exposed collarbone, pale skin which was flushed a healthy shade of pink. His jawline. The gleaming of his teeth behind soft lips, rosy from the wine.

"…so now you can stop cursing me, right? You'd better not go around telling people I can't run this complex," Yukihira teased, eyes lowering down to meet Shinomiya's hungry ones. There was a flickering of confusion in Yukihira's eyes as he noticed the look in Shinomiya's.

"Uh… Shinomiya?"

Shinomiya hastily looked down at his dish before responding with a "What?"

"Your face looked really weird there," he pondered out loud. "You looked like… uhh… I don't know. Just weird."

"No, I'm just tired," Shinomiya replied, though his voice was lacking conviction. "Of you."

There was a pause before Yukihira replied.

"Whatever. It's late, so I'm a little tired too. I'm gonna head off."

Yukihira was courteous enough to clear his dishes away, even going as far as to give them a quick scrub in the sink before setting them to the side. A minute had barely passed before Yukihira trotted out of the kitchen, offering a quick "Later, shishou!" to Shinomiya before leaving the apartment, the door gently clicking shut.

Shinomiya looked across where Yukihira had been sitting, then down at his own empty plate.

"…fuck. I think I like him."

This time, however, Shinomiya didn't shy away.

He got up and ventured into the living room, swinging the front door open before stepping out into the corridor. Yukihira had been standing by the lift, his eyes glued to the phone in his hand. Shinomiya stared at him, unable to muster the words he wanted to say.

Thankfully, Yukihira was the first one to speak.

"Hey," he said, looking up from his phone. "You need something?"

"You," Shinomiya blurted. He quickly went bright red — he couldn't believe that he'd said _that_ of all things — but he didn't turn his head away, not this time. While he'd expected Yukihira to rightfully poke fun at him (for God's sake, that line sounded like it had come straight from some sort of cheesy romantic comedy) Yukihira didn't poke fun at him. Nor was he laughing.

Yukihira slowly deposited his phone into his pocket, his eyes not straying away from Shinomiya's.

"Thought you were a busy man, shishou."

"Well… let's just say my schedule's been cleared," Shinomiya replied.

"Ah, so _that's_ what alcohol does to you," Yukihira said, a slow smile spreading across his face. "It makes you honest."

"Idiot, stop changing the subject," Shinomiya scolded. "Say something."

"Something."

When Shinomiya's facial expression turned into a glare, Yukihira yielded.

"Fine, fine. I like you too, though that was already obvious."

There was a long silence which passed between the two of them, Shinomiya going bright red with embarrassment while Yukihira remained somewhat nonchalant, a lazy smile resting on his lips. Shinomiya hated how Yukihira was able to remain so cool, so collected. Then again, it was practically embedded in his nature. Shinomiya had always been hot-headed. Passionate. It made sense that he was finding it hard to remain calm.

It also didn't help matters that Yukihira looked really fucking attractive right about now.

"So… uh…" Shinomiya stammered. "What happens now?"

"Dunno." There was a mischievous flash in Yukihira's eyes as he took a step towards Shinomiya, teeth flashing as if he were a predator approaching its prey. "What do you want to happen?"

Shinomiya shrugged his shoulders. "Well… maybe we could cook something together."

"You're still thinking about food?"

Shinomiya blinked back at Yukihira. "Well… yeah? I _am_ a chef, dunce. Why? Did you have something else in mind?"

"Well, yeah."

It was then that Yukihira's lips slammed against Shinomiya's, the force of the kiss forcing Shinomiya right up against the wall. Shinomiya's lips had been cold, but now they were being engulfed by the warmth of Yukihira's lips, drowning them in the taste of rosy red wine.

The kiss had barely lasted a few seconds before Yukihira pulled away, golden eyes twinkling with a boyish flair as he gently bit down on Shinomiya's lower lip. A gasp was dragged out from Shinomiya's mouth as Yukihira teased his teeth down just a little more before releasing Shinomiya, taking a step back as he ran his eyes up and down Shinomiya's frame.

"Better," Yukihira said. "Much better."

"I…Idiot," Shinomiya stuttered out, aware that his heart was pounding in his chest. "You can't… you can't just… you…"

"What? You wanted more?"

Shinomiya was too embarrassed to respond.

"Well," Yukihira said after a pause, "maybe tomorrow I'll be willing to kiss you for a little longer. Your lips are pretty inviting, shishou. Though… I guess _I'm_ the shishou now, aren't I?"

"W—Whatever," Shinomiya grumbled.

Yukihira smiled before turning in the direction of the lift once again, stepping through the open doors. Shinomiya's eyes followed his every move, one hand resting at his side while another was on his lips, ascertaining that Yukihira had indeed kissed him. By the time the lift doors had shut, removing Yukihira from his sight, Shinomiya was allowed the gift of thought once again. His train of thought had been halted by that kiss, but now that it was running again, he knew three things.

One: he liked Yukihira. A lot.

Two: Yukihira liked him. A lot.

Three: horoscopes weren't bullshit.

It pained him to admit that third thing. After all, there was no guarantee that Yukihira would be his 'true love'. But… Shinomiya's love life had been completely uneventful until Hinako had given him the gift card. The timing was way too convenient for it to be a coincidence. It wasn't a coincidence.

The stars had decided his fate, and that fate had led him to fall for Yukihira Souma.


End file.
